Snake oil or liquid gold? Go!
Snake oil or liquid gold? Go!
I've used it many times. I wouldn't say it's liquid gold but it's better than most of the additives you find out there. I had a snowblower that was running poopy. I ran it on SF and it cleared it right up. Did the same thing to a Saturn once as well.
There's lots of Mercedes diesel guys that discovered that if you run your car on SF for 10 minutes you get the same injector cleaning from the dealer (read over the top expensive) carbon cleaning procedure.
In my experience, inconclusive. I used it on my old 2000 F-150, sucked a whole can of it into the intake through one of the vacuum hoses. It made some smoke (not as much as I'd thought it would based on internet hearsay), ran kinda rough for a few minutes, then smoothed out. I couldn't really tell a difference. Truck had 90k on it at the time and I was about to do a plug change anyhow, so I figured what the heck.
I've found it to be fine. Not amazing, not particularly any better than any of the others. But equally, not snake oil. At least as long as you understand it's just a cleaner.
Probably not significantly better than running water through the engine. Also, probably not going to be as useful for a modern fuel injected car.
It is a huge help on a rotary which has apex seal springs bound up by carbon, burns it off quickly and restores reasonable compression, note I said reasonable.
As for smoke, warn the neighbors when running Seafoam through a rotary, it will smoke out the entire street.
Steve
If you're using a vacuum line, chose one going into the intake manifold - after the engine has been run hard for a while.
Slowly pour about 1/3-1/2 a bottle into the line and shut down the engine for 15-20 minutes. The solution works best when it has some time to dissolve any build-up. Pour the rest into the fuel tank. Crank the engine a little while later.
Do this on a windy day and not in a garage. The resulting smoke plume may alarm neighbors............
Oldsaw is right. Just pouring it through doesn't do much. Gotsta let it soak into that carbon.
In reply to DrBoost:
how about adding it to the oil? good bad or indifferent.
barnca wrote: In reply to DrBoost: how about adding it to the oil? good bad or indifferent.
You use it as a engine flush right before an oil change...not as an additive.
In reply to barnca: I think the stuff is liquid gold. If done right (manually clean the throttle body and use of vacuum hose that evenly disperses it) it can work wonders. Has solved a few driveability and smog problems on my personal cars. I'm a little hesitant on adding it to the oil. It may work great to loosen up any sludge in the crankcase, but there is no garuntee that all those nice chunks make it to the filter. Also you'll never get it all out after you change the oil. So I would highly recommend another oil change shortly afterwards to get the remaining solvent out of the crankcase.
thank u
My motorcycle mechanic says he won't allow the stuff in his shop. Claims to have opened some carbs and the bowls were full of a goo that was literally Jello consistency. Owner claimed to have used Seafoam and allowed the bike to sit.
YMMV.
Hell, I just poured it right into the throttle body. The other half in the gas tank. Unbelievable billowing clouds of white smoke. Took forever to clear it out. It was so thick, it drifted to the corner and snarled traffic at the intersection. I always did an oil and plug change after using seafoam.
stroker wrote: My motorcycle mechanic says he won't allow the stuff in his shop. Claims to have opened some carbs and the bowls were full of a goo that was literally Jello consistency. Owner claimed to have used Seafoam and allowed the bike to sit. YMMV.
If the owner never ran the engine after applying Seafoam, that goo would be the result; it's the carbon deposits that were never given an opportunity to be purged by an enthusiastic ride a few minutes later.
Like so many things, if it's not used correctly there will be problems.
I've heard bad stuff about it breaking up baked on schmang which can then clog other places.
That said, I've 90% convinced myself that when I pull the pan off the jeep to do the RMS and pan gasket, that I'm going to do a round of seafoam prior. The Jeep motor is disgustingly sludged up, which I saw when I did the VC gasket. So the tentative plan is to Seafoam the oil and run it for a few days, then pull the pan, clean it and the pickup, and maybe even pull the VC and pressure wash the inside of the engine, and then reassemble. Do a 15 minute oil change, a 1 hour oil change, and then let it go. At 250K miles, the motor could really stand to be freshened up, but if I can get rid of the lifter noise for a few hours of work, then that might be good enough until the aluminum 5.3 is ready to go in there.
DILYSI Dave wrote: ... until the aluminum 5.3 is ready to go in there.
Tell me more about this aluminum 5.3 Is it a V8 or a Straight 6?
On topic, I planned on seafoaminging the op end to clear some valve clatter, but haven't yet.
I use it on older engine for the sweet ass smoke show as much as anything. I once used it on the 455 in my 72 Firebird....while it was still in the garage. The smoke was billowing out of the garage and was so thick I actually put my painting mask on. The neighbors came over because they thought the shop was on fire. After that I started pulling the cars out before seafoaming them.
EricM wrote:DILYSI Dave wrote: ... until the aluminum 5.3 is ready to go in there.Tell me more about this aluminum 5.3 Is it a V8 or a Straight 6? On topic, I planned on seafoaminging the op end to clear some valve clatter, but haven't yet.
The 5.3 LSx truck motor.
I have read about, but have not tried, doing the Seafoam thing without as much smoke:
Pull plugs and fill only the cylinders that are at TDC with Seafoam and let sit overnight.
With turkey baster or similar, suck out Seafoam.
Roll engine so other pistons are at TDC and repeat.
Slurp it out.
Re-install plugs, run the motor, but don't beat on it, change oil, go.
I have also read (FWIW) that GM Top Engine Cleaner is the bee's knees.
I used it differently... I had the head off and used a can to soften the carbon on the pistons. Soaked it for 2hrs, scraped away with a hardwood paddle. So... er... about the same as PB Blaster.
Honda has their own called "Top Engine Cleaner" as well. Ran on it on the B16A just as directions said and noticed it ran somewhat smoother. Definitely idled a little better.
You'll need to log in to post.
